canal
/kəˈnæl/ noun, verb, proper noun
Forms canals canalling canalled
- noun An artificial waterway or artificially improved river used for travel, shipping, or irrigation.
- noun (anatomy, botany) A tubular channel within the body or within a plant.
- noun (astronomy) One of the faint, hazy markings resembling straight lines on early telescopic images of the surface of Mars; see Martian canals
- verb To dig an artificial waterway in or to (a place), especially for drainage
- verb To travel along a canal by boat
- proper noun A surname.
Synonyms
Etymology
Borrowed from Middle French canal, from Old French canal, from Latin canālis (“channel, canal, narrow passage”), from canna (“reed, cane”), from Ancient Greek κάννα (kánna, “reed”), from Akkadian 𒄀 (qanû, “reed”). Doublet of channel. See also cane and -al.
Webster’s 1913
- noun An artificial channel filled with water and designed for navigation, or for irrigating land, etc.
- noun A tube or duct; as, the alimentary canal; the semicircular canals of the ear. Canal boat, a boat for use on a canal; esp. one of peculiar shape, carrying freight, and drawn by horses walking on the towpath beside the canal. Canal lock. See Lock.
Etymology [F. canal, from L. canalis canal, channel; prob. from a root signifying "to cut"; cf. D. kanaal, fr. the French. Cf. Channel, Kennel gutter.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “canal”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details